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Concert to Feature Three Guest Organists on September 27

Submitted by Julie Huisingh on Mon, 2011-09-12 11:22

On Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 7:30 p.m., three organists/scholars will perform in Dimnent Memorial Chapel. The three scholars are Hope alumni Susan De Kam and Richard Newman, as well as University of Toronto alumnus Aaron Tan.

The public is invited. Admission is free.

De Kam will open the concert with "Concert Overture in C minor," by Alfred Hollins; "Master Tallis's Testament," by Herbert Howells; and "Variations on a Theme of Paganini," by Thalben-Ball.

De Kam completed her undergraduate studies in 2002 with a major in piano at Hope. In 2004, she earned her Master of Music degree from The University of Michigan. In addition to being the recipient of numerous prizes and awards for her performances on piano and organ, she has been a prizewinner in the Music Teachers National Association Collegiate Organ Competition (2002), the Miami International Organ Competition (2006), the Bank District Organ Competition (2009) held in London, and the National Young Artists' Competition in Organ Performance (NYACOP) (2010). De Kam recently completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Organ Performance at the University of Michigan. She serves as artist-in-residence at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Dallas, Texas, and maintains a private organ, piano, and harpsichord studio.

Newman is a 2006 graduate of Hope, where he earned the Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance. Newman is a doctoral student at the University of Michigan School of Music. Before his appointment as associate organist at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Detroit, he was organ scholar at Detroit's St. John's Episcopal Church.

Tan, who is 25, began playing the piano when he was five years old. Receiving his Associate (ARCT) diploma in piano performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada at the age of 12, he went on to earn his Licentiate (LTCL) and Fellowship (FTCL) diplomas in piano performance from Trinity College of Music in London, England, at 13 and 15 years, respectively. When he was 18, he also completed his ARCT diploma in violin performance. Upon becoming a freshman in the engineering science program at the University of Toronto in 2004, he began organ studies. Since then, he has gone on to complete both Associate (ARCCO) and Fellowship (FRCCO) diplomas in organ from the RoyalCanadianCollege of Organists. He is now a Ph.D. candidate in materials science and engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor while serving as co-sub dean to the Ann Arbor Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and is the Organ Scholar at St. John's Episcopal Church in Detroit.

Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located at 277 College Ave., on College Avenue at 12th Street.